Concrete shaft forming unit

ABSTRACT

A concrete shaft forming unit comprises an upper horizontal frame, a similar lower horizontal frame and a form box having upright panels corresponding respectively to the members of the upper frame. Each panel comprises a frame and attached sheeting adapted to engage with its outer surface concrete to be poured, each panel sheet has two upright edges, each upright edge being adjacent to but spaced from the adjacent upright edge of the adjacent sheet. Means are provided for coupling adjacent edges of adjacent sheets so as to prevent a substantially continuous outer surface to the concrete to be poured. Further means are provided for pivotally suspending from the form box from the upper frame and for supporting the form box on the lower frame by knee action pivot means. Further means are provided for maintaining a continuous relationship between the upper and lower frames and there are further means on the lower frame for detachably supporting the lower frame on a first abutment. These supporting means are adapted to disengage the first abutment automatically when the unit is lifted and to engage automatically a second higher abutment when the unit is lifted sufficiently.

United States Patent [191 Cull 1 Oct. 15, 1974 1 CONCRETE SHAFT FORMING UNIT Alan Sidney Cull, 1 Marion Cres., Lapstone, New South Wales, Australia 2773 [22] Filed: Aug. 10, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 387,281

[76] Inventor:

[52] U.S. Cl. 249/20, 425/65 [51] Int. Cl. E04g 11/28 [58] Field of Search 425/63, 65; 249/17, 29, 249/37, 102, 20, 27, 48, 194

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,652,052 3/1972 Van Derlely 249/27 3,689,019 9/1972 Ferenc 249/27 X 3,693,927 9/1972 Jennings 249/27 X Primary Examiner1. Spencer Overholser Assistant ExaminerJohn S. Brown Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Eric H. Waters [57] ABSTRACT A concrete shaft forming unit comprises an upper horizontal frame, a similar lower horizontal frame and a form box having upright panels corresponding respectively to the members of the upper frame. Each panel comprises a frame and attached sheeting adapted to engage with its outer surface concrete to be poured, each panel sheet has two upright edges, each upright edge being adjacent to but spaced from the adjacent upright edge of the adjacent sheet. Means are provided for coupling adjacent edges of adjacent sheets so as to prevent a substantially continuous outer surface to the concrete to be poured. Further means are provided for pivotally suspending from the form box from the upper frame and for supporting the form box on the lower frame by knee action pivot means. Further means are provided for maintaining a continuous relationship between the upper and lower frames and there are further means on the lower frame for detachably supporting the lower frame on a first abutment. These supporting means are adapted to disengage the first abutment automatically when the unit is lifted and to engage automatically a second higher abutment when the unit is lifted sufficiently.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures mmrzm 3.841.596

SHEET 2 OF 4 FIG. 2

PATENI'E 0m 1 5:374

SHEEI 3 OF 4 FIG. 3

PATENTEBBCT 1 51974 SHEET *4 OF 4 Isl m n F 1 CONCRETE SHAFT FORMING UNIT This invention relates to a concrete shaft forming unit for use principally but not exclusively in the construction of reinforced concrete service cores for buildings and in other situations. The invention was made primarily to speed up service core forming to a rate compatible with the speed potential of the progressive strength invention of our Australian Pat. No. 426,485.

Speed of conventional forming is severely limited by the extent of work involved in the stripping, handling, reassembly, realignment, tying and plumbing of a multitude of panels to form up a complete service core.

There have been a number of intended solutions to the problem of speeding up conventional forming but all of these suffer from disadvantages.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a concrete shaft forming unit substantially free from these disadvantages.

The main benefits of the invention accrue from the use of large interconnected forms which substantially retain their relationships during all operations concerned, are simply raised floor to floor and are simply plumbed from a minimum number of support points.

Such an arrangement using large attached outer forms is made possible by reversing the normal wall and then floor" forming and pouring sequence to "floor and then wall.

In this arrangement the floor forming immediately adjacent to the walls is left out until the wall form unit has been raised above the relevant floor and up to the underside of the next floor level. The floor forming is then completed, the flo'or is poured and the wall above poured up to the underside of the next floor level as soon as the floor has sufficiently set to resist the hydrostatic pressure of the wall pour above it.

The invention in one general form is a concrete shaft forming unit comprising an upper horizontal frame made up of three or more connected horizontal members, a similar lower horizontal frame, a form box having upright panels corresponding respectively to the members of the upper frame. each panel comprising a frame and attached sheeting adapted to engage with its outer surface concrete to be poured, each panel sheet having two upright edges, each upright edge being adjacent to but spaced from the adjacent upright edge of an adjacent sheet, first means coupling adjacent edges of adjacent sheets so as to present a substantially continuous'outer surface to the concrete to be poured, second means for pivotally suspending the form box from the upper frame, third means for supporting the form box on the lower frame by knee action pivot means, fourth means for maintaining a continuous relationship between the upper and lower frames and fifth means on the lower frame for detachably supporting the lower frame of a first abutment, said fifth means being adapted to disengage the first abutment automatically when the unit is lifted and to engage automatically a second higher abutment when the unit is lifted sufficiently.

A preferred form of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

F IG. 1 is a perspective view of the integrated forming unit with part of the outer wall cut away to show the interior,

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevation in section showing the forming unit set up ready to receive a pour of concrete,

FIG. 3 is a similar view to FIG. 2, showing the concrete pour in the hardened state, and the inner walls of the form released therefrom and being raised to a position where the next stage of concrete pouring can be initiated,

FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a clip used to unite the form walls, and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the removable corner panels of the inner walls of the forming unit.

The concrete forming unit 6 comprises two identical main frames, an upper horizontal frame 7 and a lower horizontal frame 8. The frames are fabricated from channel members 9 which intersect at right angles near their ends. Spaced pairs of channels 9 are used in both directions as shown. Each frame is stiffened by a diagonal brace 10. In the forming unit 6 as shown in the drawings, four interior forming walls 11 are suspended from the upper main frame 7 by means of metal bars or straps 12. The straps 12 are pivoted to angle cleats 13 on the underside of the frame 7 by bolts 14. Bolts 15 secure the walls 11 to the said straps 12.

The interior forming walls 11 are built up from vertical double channel beams 16, the upper ends of which are secured to said straps 12. A series of horizontal channel members 17 are welded in spaced parallel fashion down the length of the beams 16. Multi ply board sheets 18 are boltedto the channel members 17. Demountable corner units 19 join each of the interior walls 11, and will be described in detail later.

The lower ends of theverti'cal beams 16 of the interior form walls 11, are secured to the lower main frame 8 by means of articulated straps 20' securedby bolts 21 and 22. It will be seen that the articulated straps l2 and 20 permit a degree of lateral displacement of the form walls 11 afterthe corner units 19 have been removed.

The vertical marginal edges 23 (see FIG. 5) of the interior form walls 11 are chamfered as shown and each edge is stiffened by a vertical angle member 24 which is bent at an acute angle to conform to the chamfered edge 23. Elongated corner strips 25 forming the corner units 19 are stiffened down an edge by angle members 26 which are bent at an obtuse angle. A series of short angle cleats 27 is welded horizontally to the angles 26 and the corner strips 25 are bolted thereto. Holes are provided at the free ends of the cleats 27 and a vertical rod 28A is passed through said holes to hingedly secure the strips 25 together.

A series of holes 28 is formed in the angles 24 and 26 and quickly mountable clips 29 (FIG. 4) are used to enter said holes 28 and secure the angles 24 and 26 together. The clips 29 are substantially of channel configuration and each is provided with a tongue 30 which enters the holes 28. A slot 31 is formed in the opposed wall of the clip 29, which engages the angles 24 and 26 and holds them together.

When the corner units 19 are in place, the four walls 11 will form a continuous interior form. Two diagonal braces 32 provide rigidity for the structure. In addition screw jacks 33 extend between the lower main frame 8 and each of the walls 11 and form adjustable stiffening struts.

The lower main frame 8 incorporates four retractable foot bars 34 which are accommodated in the space between pairs of the channel members 9. The bars 34 are pivotally secured between the channels 9 by the bolt 22 which also secures the straps 20. The ends 35 of the bars 34 are radiused and provided thereat with a foot pad 36. A plate 37 is welded to the other end of each bar 34 and a set screw 38 is threadably secured therein. The foot bars normally extend horizontally outwardly from the lower main frame 8 and enter steel boxes 39 which have been castin place within the walls 40 of a building. Each plate 36 rests upon the bottom of its box 39 which thus provides a lower abutment. It will be seen that the weight of the frames 7 and 8 and formwork walls will becarried by the set screws 38 which will be forced against an abutment 41 secured between the channels 9.

Before concrete is to be poured the main frames 7 and 8 and inner walls 11 are set up as shown in FIG. 2 with the whole structure resting on the foot bars within the steel boxes 39. The corner units 19 are installed and held in place with the clips 29. The main frames 7 and 8 can be levelled up by adjustment of the set screws 38, which also permit the height of the structure to be regulated. The walls 11 .can be adjusted into a true vertical position by means of the screw jacks 33. The necessary steel reinforcing rods 42 can now be installed adjacent the inner form walls ll. i

Outer form walls 43 and 43A can now be positioned in spaced fashion outside the inner walls 11. The outer form walls 43 are fabricated from vertical beams 44, horizontal channels 45 and multiply board 46. The walls 43A are similar to 43. The vertical marginal edges are stiffened by metal angles 47 which are provided with holes along their lengths. The outer form walls 43A are secured together with a multiplicity of the metal clips 29 which engage the holes in the angles 47.

Hanger bars 48 are medially pivoted between the channels 9 of the top frame 7. A plate 49 is welded to the inner end of end bar 48 and said bar is normally held in a horizontal position by means of bolts 50 which engage the channels 9. A hanger strap 51 is bolted at 52 to the upper ends of the beams 44 of the outer forms 43. Each strap 51 carries a square horizontal pin 53 which rests in a vee notch 54 in the outer end of each bar 48 so that the outer form walls 43 are carried on the hanger bars 48. The height of the outer form walls can be adjusted by placing packing pieces upon the bolts 50. A second steel box 39A is positioned between the form walls above the lower box 39. She bolt type ties are used to tie the outer forms to the inner box forms at the vertical double channel beams 16 and 44 to resist the concrete pressures. Concrete 54A can now be poured between the form walls 11 and 43.

When the concrete pour 54A has hardened the inner form walls 11 can be released by first removing the outer members of the she bolt type ties and then removing the corner units 19. This is done by removing the clips 29. The chamfered edges 23 of the inner form walls allow the corner strips 25 to be prised away from the concrete 54A. The articulated connection provided by the rod 28A also helps in this regard.

The lower knee action supports or jacks 33 are then wound in to strip the internal panels 11 from the concrete and the upper arms 48 engaging the outer form panels are released by releasing the bolts 50 (FIG. 3).

A crane can now be secured to lugs 55 on the upper main frame 7 so that the whole inner structure of form walls 11 and frames 7 and 8 can be raised as shown in FIG. 3. The foot bars will also pivotally rotate about their bolts 22 and the radiused ends 35 will ride up against the inner surface of the concrete 54A. When the second abutment boxes 39A are reached, the foot bars 34 will enter therein automatically and the whole structure will be supported as before on the foot bars 34 nested within the upper boxes 39A. The process can now be repeated to extend the walls upwardly.

Whereas a rectangular formwork structure 6 has been shown in the drawings it will be seen that any required configuration can be constructed. Also apertures of any required shape can be cast into the concrete by means of intermediate formwork between the walls 11 and 43.

The outer wall form units may be split into moving and static shutters.

The moving shutters will follow the procedure as described but the static shutters remain behind to continue to support any floor beam members superimposed on them until such time as the shaft wall concrete has gained the strength necessary to support the beam.

The apparatus can be adapted to suit any moderate variation in shaft size by displacing the brackets 13 and pivots 22 and replacing the corner panels 25 by panels of an appropriate larger or smaller size.

What I claim is:

l. A concrete shaft forming unit comprising an upper horizontal frame made up of three or more connected horizontal members, a similar lower horizontal frame, a form box having upright panels corresponding respectively to the members of the upper frame, each panel comprising a frame and attached sheeting adapted to engage with its outer surface concrete to be poured, each panel sheet having two upright edges, each upright edge being adjacent to but spaced from the adjacent upright edge of an adjacent sheet, first means coupling adjacent edges of adjacent sheets so as to present a substantially continuous outer surface to the concrete to be poured, second means for pivotally suspending the form box from the upper frame, third means for supporting the form box on the lower frame by knee action pivot means, fourth means for maintaining a continuous relationship between the upper and lower frames and fifth means on the lower frame for detachably supporting the lower frame of a first abutment, said fifth means being adapted to disengage the first abutment automatically when the unit is lifted and to engage automatically a second higher abutment when the unit is lifted sufficiently.

2. A unit as in claim 1 wherein the first coupling means comprise: one or more elongated upright corner strips each filling the gap between adjacent edges of adjacent panel sheets and sixth means for detachably securing each corner strip to the adjacent edges of the adjacent panel sheets.

3. A unit as in claim 1 including also a variable length connector connecting at least one lower frame member to a corresponding upright panel and adapted when shortened to displace the panel from the surface of concrete poured against it.

4. A unit as in claim 2 including also a variable length connector connecting at least one lower frame member to a corresponding upright panel and adapted when porting each outer panel and adapted to be released from the outer panel.

6. A unit as in claim 5 wherein the first abutment is the floor of a box in a previously poured and partially set lower wall and the second abutment is the floor of a box in the wall poured between an upright panel and its corresponding outer panel. 

1. A concrete shaft forming unit comprising an upper horizontal frame made up of three or more connected horizontal members, a similar lower horizontal frame, a form box having upright panels corresponding respectively to the members of the upper frame, each panel comprising a frame and attached sheeting adapted to engage with its outer surface concrete to be poured, each panel sheet having two upright edges, each upright edge being adjacent to but spaced from the adjacent upright edge of an adjacent sheet, first means coupling adjacent edges of adjacent sheets so as to present a substantially continuous outer surface to the concrete to be poured, second means for pivotally suspending the form box from the upper frame, third means for supporting the form box on the lower frame by knee action pivot means, fourth means for maintaining a continuous relationship between the upper and lower frames and fifth means on the lower frame for detachably supporting the lower frame of a first abutment, said fifth means being adapted to disengage the first abutment automatically when the unit is lifted and to engage automatically a second higher abutment when the unit is lifted sufficiently.
 2. A unit as in claim 1 wherein the first coupling means comprise: one or more elongated upright corner strips each filling the gap between adjacent edges of adjacent panel sheets and sixth means for detachably securing each corner strip to the adjacent edges of the adjacent panel sheets.
 3. A unit as in claim 1 including also a variable length connector connecting at least one lower frame member to a corresponding upright panel and adapted when shortened to displace the panel from the surface of concrete poured against it.
 4. A unit as in claim 2 including also a variable length connector connecting at least one lower frame member to a corresponding upright panel and adapted when shortened to displace the panel from the surface of concrete poured against it.
 5. A unit as in claim 1 including also for at least one upright panel, a corresponding outer framed and sheeted upright panel with the corresponding sheets facing each other and spaced apart to define a wall to be formed by pouring concrete between them, and seventh means on the upper frame for temporarily supporting each outer panel and adapted to be released from the outer panel.
 6. A unit as in claim 5 wherein the first abutment is the floor of a box in a previously poured and partially set lower wall and the second abutment is the floor of a box in the wall poured between an upright panel and its corresponding outer panel. 